# Should we tax people for their hobbies? Isn't that the idea of State Run Lotto? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 5, 2000, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213 "2000-12-05T23:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![B\_to\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@B\_to\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B_to_B)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/1 "2000-12-05T23:50:07Z")
Why should gamblers shoulder the burden of paying for schools. The big losers are usually the old and uneducated and poor. Oh right, they _choose_ to pay this tax. Why can’t the schools be paid for by people with more upperclass hobbies? Golf, polo, limosine rides? Then the well off would be made to _choose_ to pay this tax. ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/2 "2000-12-05T23:53:30Z")
What you don’t realise is we vote in the people with the most money. Rich people want poor people to pay taxes, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![B\_to\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@B\_to\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B_to_B)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/3 "2000-12-06T00:00:38Z")
I do realize that. What I wonder is how to tell the gamblers the’ve been had? ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/4 "2000-12-06T00:02:03Z")
Put stickers on the video poker boxes. ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/5 "2000-12-06T00:06:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I do realize that. What I wonder is how to tell the gamblers the’ve been had? That’s a good one. > [@](#): > > Put stickers on the video poker boxes. Yeah, kinda like the Surgeon General’s warning on cigarrette packs? ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/6 "2000-12-06T00:15:34Z")
Nah, because I don’t think the surgeon general was a smoker. Now the person who puts the stickers would be someone they would be much more willing to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/7 "2000-12-06T00:16:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, kinda like the Surgeon General’s warning on cigarrette packs? **Warning** : The People With A Shred Of Common Sense have determined that if you put money into this, you may not get it all back. ---
**Author:** ![\_hijack\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e9bcb4/32.png) [@\_hijack\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_hijack_1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/8 "2000-12-06T01:35:56Z")
State-Run Lotteries are a tax on people who are bad at math. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/9 "2000-12-06T02:22:58Z")
Is Lotto really a hobby, or is it more of an addiction ? If it’s an addiction, wouldn’t it be fair to treat lotto players more like crack addicts ? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tax-people-for-their-hobbies-isnt-that-the-idea-of-state-run-lotto/44213/10 "2000-12-06T03:26:52Z")
It’s very simple, really. We all know that gambling is bad, so lotteries are illegal. Of course, the government is above the law, so it can run lotteries, which means it has a monopoly on lotteries. So it charges what the market can bear, and pockets the profits. Nothing like a little bit of money to distract people from their hypocrisy. I’m sure that if the government had a monopoly on golf or polo, it would try to make money off of those as well.